Food-cutter.



WITNESSES:

PATENTED JULY 2, 1907.

' W. R. GRACE &-J. J. GO LWBLL.

FOOD GUTTER.

APPLIdATION FILED 33.26. 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM R. GRACE, OF FAYETTEVILLE, AND JOHN J. OOLWELL, F SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

FOOD-CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1907,

Application filed February 26, 1906. Serial No. 302.898.

To all whom it may concern} Be it known that we, WILLIAM R. GRACE, of Fayette- .ville, in the county of Onondaga and State of New which the following, taken in connection with the ac- A companying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to the class of food-cutters comprisinga casing into which the substance to be cut is introduced and which casing is provided with a stationary disk in one end formed with discharge-openings having cutting-edges, a rotary cutter disposed in contact with and cooperating with said disk, and a feed-screw journaled within the casing and cooperating with an internal spiral rib or ribs formed on the casing for forcing the substance'through the said openings, the feedscrew being connected to and imparting motion to the rotary cutter and provided with a handle for operating the same. In machines of this character, the cutters, feed-screw and handle are usually sustained in their relative positions by means of an ordinary nut applied to a screw-threaded extension or stud formed on the rear end of the feed-screw and engaging the handle, and a tensioning thumb-nut applied to a similar part on the opposite end of the feed-screw and engaging the outer cutter. It is well known to persons familiar with this class of food-cutters, that the parts frequently require adjustment during the operation of the machine for the purpose of regulating the bearing of the rotary cutter on the stationary cutter, and also the pressure of the feed-screw on the latter cutter, which adjustment is effected by the tightening and loosening of the thumbnut. Inasmuch as this thumb-nut is disposed at the cutting end of the machine, as aforesaid, there is aliability of a persons hand coming into contact with the discharged food, and the said nut tends to clog and thereby prevent a free discharge of the said food, therefore such arrangement is objectionable. Another objectionable feature in most cutting machines of this class is, that in order to remove the feed-screw from the casing, it is necessary to detach the cutters, such removal of the screw being sometimes desirable for the purpose of cleaning the screw or. for other reasons.

The main object of thepresent invention is to produce a food-cutter of the aforesaid class in which these objections shall be obviated, and at the same time permit of quick and convenient adjustment of the cutters and feed-screw when required.

Another object of this invention is to produce a foodcutter which shallbe simple, strong and rigid in con-.

food-cutter hereinafter fully described and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of a portion of a food-cutter embodying our improvements; Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 'XX-- in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail outer face view of the rotary cutter employed in the form of machine illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the attachment of the handle to the feedscrew; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of the cutting end of a machine illustrating modifications of our invention; Fig. 6 is a detail outer face view of the outer stationary cutting-disk employed in the modified form of machine, Fig. 7 is a detail face view of the rotary cutter of the latter form of machine; and, Fig. 8 is an edge view of said cutter.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts:

A represents a cylindrical casing which is open at its ends and is formed at one end with the usual hopper B- through which the substance is introduced, and also formed with the usual bracket or standard A for supporting the same. This casing A- is provided with the usual internal spiral rib or ribs, indicated at a-, which, as is well known, assist the usual feedscrew 'G in forcing the substance to be cut through the casing, which feed-screw will be shortly referred to. The forward end of the casing is formed with an external peripheral flange bwhich is provided in its lower portion with an aperture or socket -c.

D denotes a stationary cutter consisting of a disk which is seated in the flange b and is provided with a series of discharge-openings -dd havingcutting edges. This disk is formed at its edge with a lug -e which engages the aforesaid aperture or socket -c, thereby locking the disk to the casing, and in the center of the said disk is provided an opening f.

The feed-screw G may be of any suitable form and is provided at one end with a collar gwhich is journaled in v the rear opening of the casing A-, as indicated at b, and formed with an axial stud iextending from said collar, which stud is angular in cross-section for the reception of the usual handle F for operating the said feed-screw as shown in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings. The said feed-screw is provided with a smooth bearing-face j at its forward end by which it abuts against the rear face of the aforesaid stationary cutting-disk D and is formed thereat with a hub k j ournaled in the central opening fof said disk as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. This feed-screw is also provided with an axial bore l extending through the stud i and hub -]c, which bore is formed square in cross-section at its forward end portion as indicated at m.

-G denotes a rotary cutter which is disposed in contact with the outer face of the cutting-disk D and may be of any suitable form, but preferably of the style shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings in which it embodies a plurality of knives or blades -n-n-. This rotary cutter is provided with a central square opening 0 corresponding with the forward end of the bore Z of the feed-screw, and in the outer face of this cutter is provided a tapered recess p surrounding the opening o-.

H- denotes a bolt which extends through the feedserew and rotary cutter and has its forward end portion formed square in cross-section, indicated at -H, which corresponds with like portions of the bore l and opening -0-, whereby said cutter is locked to and receives motion from the feed-screw. This end of the bolt is formed with a tapered head -0 which is seated in the aforesaid recess p of the outer cutter, and the opposite or screw-threaded end of the bolt is provided with a thumb-nut r engaging the handle F, whereby the cutters, feed-screw and handle are securely sustained in their positions.

It will be apparent that by the described arrangement of parts, the cutters and feed-screw can be easily and conveniently adjusted when required, and canbe quickly removed from the casing for the purpose of cleaning the parts and readily assembled.

To permit the feed-screw to be removed from the cas ing and at the same time retain the cutting-disk -D therein, we provide a suitable spring-clip swhich is sprung onto the aforesaid flange b of said casing and has one end bent to form an enlargement s engaging the rear edge of the flange and the opposite end bearing against the outer face of the said cuttingdisk at the edge thereof as clearly shown in Fig. l of the drawings. This spring-clip s can be readily detached from the flange bwhen it is desired to remove the cutting-disk from the casing.

When the machine is required to cut certain kinds of substances, it has been found that it is rendered more efficient by providing an additional cutting-disk D illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings. In this instance, the rotary cutter G is placed between the disks -D-D with the disk -D disposed at the outer face of the said rotary cutter. In this modified construction, the inner cutting-diskD is seated in the flange b of the casing A and locked therein in the manner hereinbefore described, and the outer cutting-disk D is provided at its edge with a lug -a engaging an aperture or socket b in the flange to lock the said disk against rotation, which latter disk is provided with a series of discharge-apertures c -c-- having cutting-edges and which are smaller than the apertures of the inner disk -D--. The said disk D is provided with a central annular opening d through which the square portion of the bolt H freely passes, and it is preferably formed on its outer face with a hub e In this case the hereinbefore mentioned tapered recess p is formed in the hub -e in which recess the tapered head 0 of the bolt is seated. It is obvious that in this modified construction, it is necessary to provide the rotary cutter G with two cutting portions to cooperate with the respective disks -DD W e therefore prefer to employ the style of cutter shown in Figs. 7 and S of the drawings, which consists of a plain annular plate formed with a plurality of knives or blades --n---n.- beveled alternately at opposite sides and disposed in contact with said disks. However, this cutter may be otherwise formed to produce the two cutting portions. The aforesaid spring-clip s in this modified eonstruction is applied to the flange Z) of the easing in the manner aforesaid and engages the outer face of the disk D. This arrangement; of the spring-clip serves to retain the three cutters in the casing when it is desired to remove the bolt and feed-screw therefrom for any purpose. It will be understood that the interposed rotary cutter is locked to the feed-screw by the engagement of the square portion of the bolt with the correspondingly shaped central opening in said entt er and bore of said feed-screw as aforesaid. 13y em ploying these two stationary disks -l)l)- and inter posed rotary cutter G-, and provided the outer disk with dischurge-apertures smaller than those of the inner disk, it is obvious that the substance forced through the cutters by the leed-screw and cooperating spiral rib of the casing, will be primarily subjected to a coarse cutting by the rotary cutter and coaeting inner disk D, and secondarily cut into line particles by said rotary cutter and coacting outer disk --l)-, thus rendering the machine more eilicient for certain kinds of substances.

What we claim as our invention is:

A food-cutter comprising a cylindrical casing provided with a hopper and having both of its ends open, a stationary disk disposed in the forward end ot the casing and adapted to be removed therethrtmgh. and provided with a central annular opening and with a series of dist-bargeopenings having cutting-edges, a t'ectl-sci'e\v formed at its rear end with a collar journalcd in the corresponding opening of the case and formed on its t'orwa rd end with a hub journaled in the central opening of the cutting-disk and terminating thereat, said teed-screw lzeing provided on its rear with an axially projecting stud t'ormed tapering and angular in cros ction and also provided with an axial bore extending through the stud and hub. the portion of the here at said hub formed angular in crosstion, a rotary cutter disposed in contact: with the outer face of the cuttingdisk and im'lependent otf said hub and provided with a central opening angular in cross-section and av tapered recess surrounding the opening, a bollv extending through the bore and through the opening of the retary cutter and formed with a tapered head seated in said recess, said holt having a portion thereof formed angularin erosssection to lock the rotary cutter to the teed serew,

a handle on the tapered stud of the l'eedscrcw, and a nut applied to the rear end of the bolt and bearing against: the handle and serving to hold the rotary cutter and feed screw adjustahly in operative relation with the cutting disk as set forth and shown.

WILLIAM R. GRACE. JOHN .T. COI'AVIQI'J).

Witnesses M. C HAMMOND, Crmnnns E. CONLEY.

Ill) 

